This application is a request for funding to support travel grants for early career epithelial physiologists (post- doctoral fellows and graduate students) to participate in the Epithelial Transport Group (ETG) scientific sessions that comprise part of the American Physiological Society (APS) annual meeting. The ETG and APS meetings will take place April 9-13, 2011 in Washington, DC, under the umbrella of the Experimental Biology (EB) Meeting. The ETG has been a recognized group by the APS since the 1970's and an official Group within APS since before 1992. The ETG was created to bring together members from different APS sections that study epithelial transport physiology. As in previous years, the ETG scientific sessions at EB2011 are designed to promote interaction between epithelial physiologists, and to provide a collegial forum for epithelial physiology trainees to present their work. The lectures, symposia and poster sessions organized by the ETG offer many networking opportunities that potentiate the career advancement of junior epithelial physiologists. All ETG sessions provide a forum where junior attendees present their work as oral and/or poster presentations and obtain feedback from more senior scientists. For example, under the leadership of the current ETG Chair Dr. Moshe Levi, the ETG instituted the Ussing Lecture in 2008. This lectureship recognizes scientists who have made fundamental contributions to our understanding of epithelia transport and diseases of epithelial transport. Recent awardees include Dr. Thomas Kleyman, Dr. Peter Aronson and Dr. Paul Quinton. The 2011 ETG Symposium is "Trafficking across Epithelia". The featured topics are "Regulation of Transporters and Modulating Proteins by Lipids, and Hormones", which will include free communication presentations along with an oral presentation by the first Steve Hebert Lecturer, Dr. Ernest Wright. The second featured topic with free communications is "Regulation of Ion and Water Channels and Modulating Proteins, Lipids, and Hormones" and will include this year's Ussing Lecturer, Dr. Peter Agre, who is Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. We believe that the support derived from this application will enhance the scientific and personal career development of junior epithelial physiologists, by affording unique learning/participation opportunities and promoting contact with the wider epithelial transport physiology community members at EB2011. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The featured topic free communication sessions, symposium, Lectures and poster sessions organized by the Epithelial Transport Group (ETG) at the Experimental Biology meeting in 2011 (EB2011) address novel, cutting edge research in the epithelial transport physiology field spanning many organ systems and organisms. This meeting brings together a very unique and knowledgeable group of scientists from around the world and affords trainees opportunities to experience and interact with these scientists that would not otherwise be available to them. The PI, on behalf of the APS and the ETG steering committee, requests funds to partially support travel grants for trainees (graduate students and post-doctoral fellows) to the ETG scientific sessions at EB 2011. We believe that the support derived from this application will enhance the scientific and personal career development of junior epithelial physiologists, by bringing them in contact with the wider epithelial transport physiology community members at EB2011.